Mercury...NOT the planet.

In our world today, the obesity epidemic is easily observable to any person walking around on the streets. Due to fast food, and unhealthy eating habits, America is at the top of the list with the highest rate of obesity in the world. This in fact may be due to the way we are raised, where easy access to cheap unhealthy fast food is an acceptable way of life to many citizens. However, people that want to better their quality of life turn to other healthy foods, and we trust that foods such as grilled chicken as tuna fish are healthy for you just because of appealing nutrition facts. After glazing at the back of a can of tuna fish, you see that tuna fish is fairly low in fat, and very high in protein. What the “fish manufacturers” forget to tell you is that fish that we eat every day has high volumes of mercury, toxins, and bacteria which the fish pick up during their life in the water. This is when we turn to the media to find out what is good for our body and what may be harmful. It just seems as though the media is “missing a piece of the puzzle.”

I believe that there are many facts that the consumers of the fish that is distributed around our country, and around the world are unaware of. If you watch the news, you may hear stories that high mercury levels is fish are harmful to people and we should not consume large quantities of the fish due to this. However, in my opinion, the media does not give necessary reasons or guidelines of how much mercury and toxins and in the fish, and how much consumption will cause negative health risks. I believe that the government is understating the health issues behind the consumption of large quantities of fish. I believe that they are just letting us know that mercury is harmful to people, but not warn us to a sufficient level, due to the amount of business that fish brings to people all around the world and our economy. They may be doing this, so the government cannot have charges pressed on them when the harmfulness of the consumption of fish becomes more prevalent. When health issues become more serious, the media can just tell us “I told you so.” Fish is expensive, especially exquisite sushi restaurants in which we pay high prices to eat our delicate and “healthy” food. Since fish is so expensive, for the most parts, I believe greater safety precautions should be practiced, no matter what the cost, because the health of a large portion of our world is greater than a few minor economic issues.

Our government is sending the mothers of our country mixed signals. The news is telling our pregnant women that consumption of fish during pregnancy is healthy and good for the development of the embryo. However, scientists are telling us that high levels of mercury should be avoided, and if they are not, then this may result in malfunctions of poor development of the embryo. The back of a can of tuna fish does not tell you the level of mercury in the fish that you are eating, so mothers are faced with a predicament. Should they eat fish to better their child, or avoid fish due to the fact that it may harm their child? Although mothers others are filled with mixed signals from the media, the consumption of fish is not the only “grey area.” The media also gives parents all sorts of different advice regarding breast milk, and whether “formula” for their infants is better than breast feeding. The government needs to keep on top making the people aware of the safety regarding our consumption of food, and rely less on how their decisions will affect the economy.